#102: No Worries if Not
Not wanting to appear too eager to reply
Sophie Gee • The Scandal of the Season: A Novel
The world, I realized, is built on passive connection, on the low-effort maintenance of relationships through shared content, mutual voyeurism, and the occasional emoji reaction. Without that, you become a ghost, haunting the edges of people’s lives but never quite materializing.
AVOIDANCE. Avoidance is usually about fear. Emotions and relationships have hurt me, so I will minimize emotions and relationships. People who are avoidant feel most comfortable when the conversation stays superficial. They often overintellectualize life. They retreat to work. They try to be self-sufficient and pretend they don’t have needs. Often,
... See moreDavid Brooks • How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen
“Chill” is the idea that it’s better to be relaxed and low-key, better not to care, better not to make a big deal. It is, in the words of Alana Massey’s essay “Against Chill,” a “laid-back attitude, an absence of neurosis.” It “presides over the funeral of reasonable expectations.” It “takes and never gives.”